2016 EOY Reader Survey Results

At the end of 2016, I asked readers to fill out my End Of Year Reader Survey, in hopes it would give me a better idea of what to work on in 2017, and what kind of content to post more/less of. I got some great feedback, and some of it was pretty eye-opening!

I think my biggest takeaway, is that no matter how hard I’ve tried to maintain this blog as a heavily fitness focused space, it simply isn’t anymore. I would still consider it to be a “running & lifestyle” blog like my tagline notes, but the truth is that motherhood and lifestyle do tend to be the heavier focus. At least for the time being. A huge portion of my readers visit to read motherhood posts, and as much as I didn’t want this space to turn into a mom blog, I think it’s safe to say that it has pretty much morphed into it. Sweet Miles: a sometimes Running, a little bit of Fitness, Lifestyle, Motherhood, and lots of Baby Pictures blog, might be a more accurate representation at this time. But, we tend to blog what’s on our hearts, and in this stage of my life, Adeline is on my heart 24/7. I am trying to make a conscious effort in 2017 though to continue to bring my fitness content to the forefront as much as possible.

So let’s get to some results!

Here’s a quick summary, then I’ll add my notes.

Quick thoughts from above:

There seems to be a pretty good split between readers who are not bloggers, and readers who are/were bloggers themselves. I thought there would be a much heavier preference towards one or the other, so that was a nice surprise to see there are plenty of both.

Most of you either read every time I post, or in a close second, 1-3 times a week. This was nice to see because I feel like it takes the pressure off of sticking to a strict schedule. Loyal readers are either going to read every post, or the more average reader is going to pop in a few times a week, then pop back out.

I was a bit surprised that so many of you want to read about life and random musings. I’ll definitely start posting a little more about my day-to-day grind.

Most of you seem to read my blog because 1. Content is somehow relevant to your life, 2. Personality, or 3. You’re nosey and like keeping up with me. This wasn’t a very big surprise, but it does reiterate that people tend to read my blog because of what it says, not necessarily because of how it looks. Quality content will always outshine everything else.

A large portion of you selected “other” as the primary way you keep up with new posts. I’m still not quite sure what that “other” actually is.

The majority don’t really mind sponsored posts or are just indifferent to them.

A large portion of you don’t comment because commenting on mobile is just not as easy. I find this very true myself, and rarely comment on anything if I’m reading on my phone!

Clearly I need to focus most of my attention on Instagram and Facebook. Snapchat and Twitter are like the ugly stepchildren. I’m seriously considering deleting Twitter anyways – I NEVER use it, and just auto-share my posts there purely out of habit.

I’ve always seen my highest traffic days on Monday or Tuesday, so I wasn’t too surprised by this. However, it was definitely nice to see that for the most part, people just read whenever I have a new post up.

An email subscription would be a huge waste of my time!

Here are a few of my favorite answers from the two short answer questions –

I’d love to see more future posts about, or a post specifically about: (quoted exactly)

More motherhood posts! esp breastfeeding, working from home, and Adeline

Work life balance, the hard parts of motherhood, how you decided to work instead of being a SAHM, daily routines, career advancement and future family plans

Being a working mom

More workout posts

Truckee (lol to whoever put this…poor dog, she really is so neglected now!)

So, motherhood, working mom life, and fitness seemed to be the main themes requested. And our long lost dog.

Why do you read Sweet miles? (quoted exactly)

You’re very relatable and I enjoy hearing about how you balance being a WAHM because I hope to be able to do that someday when we have a kid!

Your personality shines through the way you deliver your content. it shows how passionate you are about your life and I love it.

I’m a runner too, and your running posts help keep me inspired

My daughter is two weeks younger than Adeline, I found this blog when we were both pregnant and going through the same things at the same time was nice!

Relate to your life stage

I started reading your blog after searching for pregnancy blogs, but I keep reading because I love reading about you and your cute family!

I can relate in several areas: running, then pregnancy, then motherhood and postpartum fitness, and we share the same faith.

Our kids are just days apart and it’s been so great to become friends over the past few years!

Inspiration to eat healthy, workout more, workout ideas.

I like to read about another young mother’s experiences to know I’m not alone

I can relate to you, and you seem real

My daughter is one day older than yours so I feel like I can relate to you on parenting and life

We are about the same age and similar goals, so it’s nice to read someone’s thoughts on life in general.

Found you when I was pregnant and you were due a week ahead of me so I felt a strong connection! Now that our kids out a week apart I find you relatable, honest and funny and I enjoy learning from you and getting tips on being a working mom. So many mom bloggers give up their careers after having their child and I just can’t relate as well. Kudos to you and thanks for the inspiration!

Your honesty when things are difficult. Life isn’t perfect

Ok seriously you guys, I was just blown away by these answers. It is so encouraging to hear that so many of you are craving real, honest, down to earth GIRL TALK! I try really hard to share my life exactly as it happens, and not be fake or sugar coat anything, and I’m so glad it is relatable. I was also really encouraged by so many of you who are simply in the same life stage as me. Solidarity, sisters! This is a crazy, crazy time in life, but we got this!

Thank you, thank you to everyone who took the time to take my survey, and offer your feedback. I am so thankful you continue to read this little blog, and follow along with me on this journey. I am just so tickled by your encouragement, and will do my best to continue to make this a space you want to read.

Sarah is the main writer behind Sweet Miles, a lifestyle blog based out of Texas that focuses on fitness, parenting, and everyday life. She's a full time working mom, with a passion for balancing it all.

5 Comments

I’m glad you got such helpful responses! I love reader surveys and seeing results, so thanks for sharing! I do love commenting on blogs when I can, but I said that I found it hard to comment from my phone, which is true! And I know that’s why comments seem to be down in general (at least on my blog last year!). I definitely love anything re: working mom. There just don’t seem to be very many working mama bloggers out there. No shame in talking about motherhood! That is our lives and a big part of it. If people can’t relate that’s just a different stage of life and doesn’t mean they necessarily don’t like YOU. That’s what I try to remember 🙂Amanda recently posted…Confession Session vol 5

Great results! I’m so glad you got (hopefully only) good results and comments. Isn’t it funny how many people who read here who are NOT bloggers? That was a big surprise to me when I did my own survey and people really came out of the woodwork that I didn’t realize were reading. It’s nice that you have a mix of both though.

I also love seeing the pie chart for the social media answers. I too also never, ever use Twitter. It’s just kinda like the MySpace of social media to me now haha!

Sweet Miles

Welcome to Sweet Miles! I'm a full time working mom of one, with one on the way. This blog chronicles my everyday life as I try to balance all the things. I'm passionate about fitness, and maintaining a positive outlook on parenting. Follow along! Motherhood may be messy, but it sure is sweet.